What Can You Say in Six Seconds – Exploring Vine for Business

A few weeks ago, Twitter announced a new mobile video application called Vine. Vine is a mobile app that lets you shoot and loop six second videos with your phone… think animated GIF, but shinier. You can download it from the Apple App Store.

Vine is about ‘sharing moments’. The app is very cool and fun but a lot of people are trying to figure out what exactly to do with it. If you are an early adopter and a content marketer, we wanted to talk to you about things you should know about using Vine for your business.

Six seconds goes by very quickly! Plan out your shots and the point you are trying to get across first. As my second grade teacher told me ‘Place Before You Paste’. It will make your filming a lot easier.

Make it your own – Do not capture work if it is not yours. Stay away from television, works of art or anything that could be copyrighted.

Listen up – Just like the visual elements, you want to make sure the audio is your own. Avoid background music, sensitive information or loud noises.

No kids allowed – Do not film children, unless they are your own. Even then, think long and hard about it. Vine users need to be over 17. A quick review of App Reviews shows that hiding adult content is a large concern for the new mobile app.

Hiring models? Since this will be public, you technically need consent from anyone in the video to post it. So unless you are carrying around model releases, you should avoid filming people you don’t know and who haven’t given you consent.

Get creative – How can you use this new video app? You can show products, tease other content, showcase your office environment and lots of other things. Since Vine is in its infancy, we are largely looking at uncharted territory.

Let your Vine Grow! – Once you make your video, it is stored in your phone’s album. Like all marketing efforts, integrate it into your other channels. You can add the video to YouTube, tweet it on Twitter and embed it (see below), share it on Facebook etc.